The national railway operator, TransNamib inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Botswana Railways earlier this week.

The MoU will establish a working relationship between the two and introduce a container terminal for Botswana in Namibia according to news agency, Xinhua.

According to the agency at a press briefing held in Gaborone, Johny Smith, TransNamib chief executive officer, said the MoU is the beginning of fruitful and beneficial relationship in developing trade between the two economies.

Botswana’s Railways chief executive officer, Leornard Makwinja said the MoU provides an opportunity for Botswana to leverage on the railway infrastructure in Namibia as well as knowledge in the dry port business.

The MoU will be for 9 years, during which time the parties will explore and agree on substantive terms for carrying out the container terminal business.

Makwinja said the dry port is important in providing alternative means of transporting cargo from Walvis Bay port in Namibia to Botswana and other destinations within the SADC region.